


He loves me, he loves me not

by Criska



Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26422897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Criska/pseuds/Criska
Summary: Jule's had a crush on Erling for months, and after heavy prompting from his friends he decides to talk it out with him.
Relationships: Julian Brandt/Erling Håland
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	He loves me, he loves me not

**Author's Note:**

> What can I say? I've got one Braaland braincell. Surprisingly, this is lewd free.

_"Alright, what's going on between you and Erling Braut Haaland? Fess up."_

Julian nearly spat out his hot chocolate all over his living room's carpet as his screen displayed this impromptu evening text from his best friend, namely Kai.

_"What?"_ He quickly texted back.

_"TV just showed the highlights of your game against the cans. Are we not going to talk about that celebration? Dude practically wanted to melt into you. I bet it hurt, he looks ripped af"_ A pink hue tinged Julian's cheeks as he reminisced about the strong and tight grip around his body when Erling had picked him up earlier in the afternoon, as well as the solid weight of his large palms on his waist as he had made sure he stayed balanced when he lowered him back on his feet. Jule had backed away, lest he exposed his true feelings in front of million of viewers, but Erling had followed after him, throwing himself into his arms for a final hug. Good thing Emre had jumped in quickly after to take away from the unusual intensity of their celebration. 

_"Nothing, honestly, it was just platonic skinship"_

_"Julian Brandt of Bremen. Do you take your BFF for an idiot? I'm pretty sure he would have started twirling you around had he not reined himself in. I'm pretty sure he would have **kissed** you."_

The blush had officially spread down to Julian's chest _"Come on Kai, we've had our fair share of hugs too. That's nothing."_ Although his heart had never threatened to beat right through his chest at Kai's hugs. 

_"Whatever. I know you, Jule. You're head over heels, aren't you? You've been gushing about the guy ever since february."_

The blond bit into his plump bottom lip, cursing his past self for babbling on and on about that upcoming striker in world football, so towering and strong, but also witty and endearing. With a protective streak engrained deep inside him, always wearing his heart on his sleeve. Yes, Erling was a really great guy, and he liked him a lot, so much that it might be bordering on a crush. But it'd never go beyond that, and he was sure Erling didn't play for the other team anyway.

_"I do like him, but that's it. There's no way he's anything but straight, so don't make it weird, please."_

It took longer for Kai to reply, but after two minutes his screen lit up with a reply _"Kay, sorry for being nosy. You know I just want to look out for my best buddy."_ For the first time since the start of their conversation, Jule's lips quirked up into a smile _"Let's hit up fortnite, I've got a hunch I'll steamroll you today"._

(He didn't)

* * *

"Braaland, really?"

Julian's shoulders tensed right up while he looked over the eggs fizzling in his pan. "What about it?" He tried to maintain a neutral tone as he replied to Jannis, his younger brother sprawled on the couch a few meters off. 

"Doing my daily Julian stalking on Instagram. And, Braaland, really? Why is he trying to make it a thing? Is that some inside joke you talked among each other or what?"

"I haven't a clue, he came up with it on his own."

"After that celebration against red bull, right? One month on and he's still using it, this shipname may as well be a declaration of love." Julian's hand stilled on the wooden spoon, ears covered in a bright red blush. "Don't be dumb, that's just a platonic petname between friends, I'm sure he'd use one with anyone else." 

"But he hasn't. Not with Delaney. Not with Reyna. Not with Ødegaard. Only you. Isn't that, like, weird?"

Julian huffed heavily, extremely aware that Jannis wasn't backing down any time soon. "Why are you even looking so hard into it? I told you, it's meaningless." 

"Yeah right, then why did he just like that Braaland facecam on twitter?"

"...What?" Julian turned off the stove and strided over to Jannis, yanking the phone from his clutch. And here it was, a short video clip featuring Haaland and Julian, under Erling's likes. "I mean, he keeps in touch with his fans, but - that, that clearly runs deeper." Jannis said, peering up at his brother's face, which was ranging between embarrassment and incomprehension. 

"Yeah, okay, I'll fold. It's weird, you've got a point". He sighed, giving Jannis his phone back. "Ask him about it tomorrow, like, just mention in passing that you saw that Braaland cam he liked on twitter." Jannis smirked, thrilled at the idea of cornering the man that'd been living rent free in his brother's mind for the past 5 months. 

* * *

"Hey there, you" 

Julian tilted his head around to look back at the man whose familiar voice had greeted him. He had been one of the first to arrive at the BVB training grounds, quickly changing into training gear and walking onto the pitch to train with the ball a bit. A few more people had trailed in afterwards, Julian keeping an eye out for the one person he was really interested about. And here he was, standing right behind him clad in a sleeveless yellow shirt that was showcasing his buff biceps oh so perfectly. 

"Hey" he replied, lips tugging up into a smile on their own. He raised his arm to "social-distance" greet him by tapping their forearms, but Erling caught him off guard when he wrapped his arms around his body, COVID concerns thrown out of the window as he flushed their bodies together, his solid chest weighing down against Julian's.

The german bit into his lip to stop himself from letting out a weird schoolgirl-like squeal, hands clutching at the back of Erling's shirt as he revelled in the sensation of how right it felt having Haaland's muscular frame tucking him into a tight embrace. "I missed seeing your face" the taller blond whispered along his temple, leaving the white skin hot in the wake of his breath. 

A rush of blood crept right up to Julian's face at these words, "Didn't you enjoy my Instagram pictures, though?" he tried, voice half muffled into the crook of Erling's neck. A light snicker reached Julian's ears, Erling slightly pulling away, although he let one of his hands linger on Julian's back. The norwegian's eyes felt hot on the skin of the german's face, flicking from his eyes to his lips as though he wanted to burn that picture into his brain. "It's never quite like the real thing" he replied after awhile, raising a suggestive eyebrow with a flirty smile playing on his lips.

_"Blood overload alert."_ Blaring alarms sounded in Julian's mind as he swiftly turned back around to try to hide his flushed state from the norwegian, causing the hand that was still on him to trail off his back.

Just when he thought he had managed to shake the other's grip off his body, sparing himself any ensuing distraction, another hand grabbed at his shoulder, Erling seemingly relentless in his endeavor to stick with him. Julian was well aware how clingy and stubborn the younger man could be, and he did have something to bring up to him, so he figured he may as well man up and get it over with as soon as possible.

The beating of his heart had receded by then, his face complexion going back to its natural paleness, as he glanced over at Erling's face. Blue met green, the norwegian not shying away from the sudden eye contact, when Julian was having a hard time putting his thoughts into comprehensible words, the gears in his brain turning slowly as he tried to hold Erling's gaze. Eventually, his lips moved around words, "Do you like me?".

_Wait._

**_What?!_ **

His blue eyes widened as what he had just asked dawned on him, his right hand tingling to slap himself right in the face as he adverted his eyes down to the grass. Had he kept them on Erling's face, he'd have seen the other's lips drop open, eyes going almost as wide as the german's, but as things stood, he only felt the hand on his shoulder clamp down tighter, setting his skin ablaze. Julian's teeth gnawed at his lips to the point of blood. He was desperately trying to work out a way out of this, but nothing came to his jumbled brain. 

"Does it bother you?"

The smaller blond perked up at that question, the uncertainity in Erling's voice heavy, as he trailed his blue orbs back up Erling's body. He wasn't blushing, he rarely did, but he was obviously upset, face drained of colors. Julian raised a confused eyebrow, unsure what the significance of Erling's words was, and unwilling to make a further fool of himself by prodding the issue. 

Dreading the prospect of wording his feelings, the german spun around on the spot. He made to take off, mingle with the others and avoid Erling for the rest of their BVB careers. However, his plan didn't account for Erling reaching out to grab his wrist and keep him still. The norwegian's chest was now plastered against the german's back, the comfortable distance from the rest of their teammates meaning that they couldn't see what they were up to. 

His warm breath caressed his ear as he spoke up, "What's the rush?" he whispered in a low, deeper than usual voice, causing shivers to travel through Julian's body, his white skin prickling into goosebumps. 

The smaller blond took a deep breath to try to calm down his thumping heart, to little avail, "Sorry, I'm a coward" he eventually mumbled, unconsciously leaning back into Erling's comforting frame. The norwegian's warmth had a soothing effect, the tension in his body slowly going away as Erling kept him grounded and safe, a strong arm wrapped around his belly and stroking at the soft clothed skin, while the other was gripping onto his hand.

"Shouldn't I be the one freaking out?" Erling giggled along his ear, "You did just figure out I have feelings for you..."

Julian's lips parted as he blinked in disbelief, processing this newfound information. "So, all that Braaland stuff carried a subtext?"

"Well, basically it was my way of coping with my feelings, yeah. It's dumb, I know, I'm bad at love." 

A sudden laugh erupted between them, Julian's shoulders shaking against Erling's torso "God, I can't believe they were right. I've been so blind." He threw his head back over Erling's shoulder, smiling up at the norwegian, dimple creasing into his right cheek.

"...Wait, does that mean I'm not getting shot down?" Erling inquired, looking down into Julian's pretty blue eyes. 

"To keep it succinct: I would totally kiss you right now, but this is not exactly a private place." The german grinned, a devious glint lurking in his eyes at the sight of a light blush creeping onto Erling's cheeks. 

That sense of power quickly flipped around as the taller blond leaned down to drop a soft kiss on his cheek, an amused grin tugging at his lips as Julian flinched in his arms, surprised by the gesture. "Don't get too cocky, unless you want me to show you who's in charge?" He breathed along the flushed skin, low voice laced with meaning.

A burst of heat flared up in Julian's stomach as his mind drew up a bunch of pictures depicting Erling's words in details. He licked his lips then winked for good measure, "Don't mind if I take you up on that offer, big guy".

With a final squeeze around his wrist, Erling let go of his arm, "That's a promise, Jule" He smirked down at Julian, eyes lingering on his parted lips, before he nodded over towards the distant circle that had formed around their trainer. "Let's sweat it up a bit first, though, shall we?" he proposed, pulling away.

"As hard as it's going to be keeping my hands off you, let's." 

"Who said anything about that, though?" Erling chuckled before he threw an arm over Julian's shoulders, the firm hand on the german's upper arm keeping him neatly tucked into the side of his large body as they walked side by side towards the others. 

...It was going to be hard to make excuses for Julian's rosy cheeks.

**Author's Note:**

> *dreamy sigh* I love them


End file.
